Skinnydipper

Sunday, August 29, 2004

The lastest malware appearing on the August 22, 2004 Threat Assessment Chart from Ad-Aware includes MyDailyHoroscope and SearchExtender. There are also updated specs on BargainBuddy, AdTomi, and SideFind. There are lists of known computer hijacking threats including rogue anti-spyware applications and remedies on the internet at spywareinfo or spywarewarrior.

MyDailyHoroscope is still widely distributed, as a check with all the major search engines revealed, although Ad-Aware and PestPatrol both identify it as malware. The dating services, casinos, and astrology zones that distribute this winner use a come-on like: "Take the mystery out of your future and get the personal astrology delivery service from MyDailyHoroscope.net"

SearchExtender appears along with HomeSearchAssistant and ShoppingWizard. The company has an uninstaller website that is suspected of re-installing this offender. Some infected users have had to use three or four methods to eliminate this scourge from diverting their browsers to unwelcome websites.

Bargain Buddy is software which, based on your Internet browsing habits, generates popup advertisements whenever you browse the web – it gets installed mostly as part of other products such as Net2Phone, some versions of the LimeWire file sharing software, some versions of the email alert program from www.mail.com, and other software titles.

AdTomi sends YahooStocks stock-tracker program that hijacks your browser to zestyfinds.com and serves select advertising. They use a combination of pop-ups and replacement ads to bring their messages to your attention.

SideFind is another adware and hijacking irritant that tracks your Google searches. It offers suggestions based on your search history and tries to point you to chosen destinations.

Marriage Commitment Day: Googolism

Googlism for: marriage
marriage is like bubble gum
marriage is good for you
marriage is
marriage is worse for women than men
marriage is defined by god in the bible
marriage is none of the government's
marriage is better than you think
marriage is to take second place
marriage is dying by peter j
marriage is for keeps
marriage is part of god’s plan
marriage is a sacrament
marriage is good for women's health
marriage is no fairy tale
marriage is slavery rather than
marriage is murder
marriage is wrong as well
marriage is cool again
marriage is an onion
marriage is my vocation
marriage is doing
marriage is on the
marriage is recognized
marriage is sent to an early grave by a series of little digs
marriage is a one
marriage is no panacea
marriage is none of the government
marriage is under siege in our country
marriage is like a hundred $k in the bank
marriage is worship because of spirit mingling
marriage is worth £60
marriage is a feast where
marriage is divine
marriage is a powerful legal and social institution that protects
marriage is valid has been
marriage is a new hampshire imperative why?
marriage is the closest kind of friendship
marriage is the union of
marriage is good for your health
marriage is worth $100
marriage is no proof of love
marriage is wrong?
marriage is in trouble
marriage is all about presenting little saints to god may 07
marriage is alive and well
marriage is honorable
marriage is accused of duping
marriage is healthy?
marriage is to me
marriage is the key weapon against poverty
marriage is ready to go to the mission field
marriage is dumb
marriage is troubled
marriage is for love
marriage is a divine institution established by god for man?s good
marriage is forever
marriage is still important
marriage is in trouble helpsite
marriage is serious business
marriage is presided over by clergy and is considered by its participants to be a sacred union in the eyes of their deity and their faith
marriage is risky this article is based on information from the national marriage project at rutgers
marriage is none of the government's business
marriage is to let your mate take first place
marriage is dying peter j
marriage is the best way for most men and women
marriage is murder by nancy pickard
marriage is alive and well author
marriage is part of god’s plan
marriage between a man and a woman has been an integral part of god’s plan from the beginning
marriage is deemed illegal
marriage is a bond that should be entered into for love and companionship after you know who you really are
marriage is no fairy tale adrienne ball is a senior majoring in anthropology and is the ids arts editor
marriage is worth divorce and money
marriage is slavery rather than just a happy family affair
marriage is murder intrepid duo dares to go where few have survived
marriage is a good thing
marriage is irrelevant
marriage is an onion
marriage is an amazing thing
marriage is doing fine
marriage is on the rocks
marriage is recognized from your marriage guide
marriage is prohibited
marriage is no panacea this editorial appeared in usa today on february 27
marriage is none of the government?s business
marriage is multicultural
marriage is like having an
marriage is ok?
marriage is a feast where the grace is sometimes better than the dinner
marriage is that we fall in love with a personality
marriage is a powerful legal and social institution that protects and supports intimate family relationships by providing a unique set of rights
marriage is not what you think
marriage is a new hampshire imperative in new hampshire we must
marriage is good for your health february 26
marriage is unjust
marriage is valid
marriage is not over
marriage is not for everyone
marriage is an institution ordained of god
marriage is wrong??" i have a bf and we're really close ok
marriage is all about
marriage is honorable #31
marriage is accused of duping signers pam belluck
marriage is considered valid
marriage is healthy? x
marriage is to me by tarascorpb
marriage is the key weapon against poverty both on screen and off these days
marriage is separate property
marriage is an institution of god
marriage is bullshit
marriage is coming
marriage is troubled it is a fact
marriage is still not easy
marriage is the foundation of the family unit

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Presurfer Branches Out With Unusual Churches Compendium

Those looking for a way to express their religious devotion have the internet to thank for a rise in the number of denominations available. There are plenty of prayer and worship sites to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God, so if you can't get to church it will try to reach you. Other beliefs, like Budhism, Taoism and Hebrew sects, use the net to present their church's aims and philosophy. Even atheists and agnostics now have an international forum to present their case.

Presurfer, a magnificent daily dose of the quirky news by Gerard Vlemmings, has been running a sister blog called Unusual Churches about forms of worship on the internet. Here is what he has found so far:

Churches of PeopleFirst Church of Elvis the Divine
First Church of Jesus Christ, Elvis
24 Hour Church of Elvis
First Church of Dan Aykroyd
Church of the SubGenius
Church of the Apathetic Agnostic
Church of Buffett, Orthodox
First Church of Tiger Woods
Church of Johnson
Church of the Beholder
Temple of George W. Bush
Church of God Anonymous
Church of Betty
Church of Tina Chopp
Church of Mary
Church of SpongeBob Squarepants
Church of Satan
First Satanglican Church of Wendall Corners
Church of NO MA'AM
Church of Ben

Churches of FoodPotato God Worship Center
Church of the Great Charismatic Pineapple
Church of the Avacado
Amsterdam Cannabis Ministry
Church of Our Lady of Malted Barley and Hops

Churches of AnimalsChurch of the Lambchop Almighty
Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua
Church of Gerbil
Church of the Swimming Elephant
First Church of Simba
Holy Church of Moo
Church of the Quivering Otter

Churches of the FutureMegachurch
Internet Church of God
Church of the Interactive Network
Holy Church of IP
Church of Now
Church of O
Church of Tetris
First Church of Pac-Man
Church of All Worlds
Church of the Almighty Dollar
Church of Stop Shopping
Church of the Universe
Church of Reality
First Electronic Church of America
First Church of Shatnerology
Church of Spock of Latter-Day Science Officers

Churches of IndustryChurch of Craft
Church of Frag
Church of Virus
Church of Transport Tycoon
Church of Volkswagenism
Church of Monday Night Football
Church of the Profit$

Churches of WordChurch of Bullshitology
First Church of the Last Laugh
Church of Fear
Church of the Blinding White Light of Stupidity
Church of Zen Fatalism

Churches of MadnessChurch of the Grey
Church of the Spiral Tree
Church of Mez (closed)
Abston Church of Christ
Church of the Heavenly Wood
Church of the Open Heart
Church of Magick
Church and School of Wicca
Church of Light
North Texas Church of Freethought
Church of Reason
Church of Body Modification
Eclectic Movement for Inri Cristo
Church of Gnostic Luminism
Church of the East
Church of Perfect Liberty
Church of Hed
Church of Saturday Night Live
Church of Darwin
Wiccan Church of Canada

Monday, October 27, 2003

SecurityFocus Relates Dismay at Utter Ignorance of Computing Public

The Register interviews Scott Granneman, SecurityFocus, teacher of technology at Washington University and at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. The article is entitled, "Joe Average User is in Trouble", and Mr. Granneman immediately gets to the point. "Security is just not a concept that "normal" folks focus on. It's not even on the radar screen. It's just not thought about at all."

The average user has not attended to securing his dataport and so will answer in the negative these basic questions:
"Do you update your anti-virus software regularly?"
"Do you run Windows Update regularly?"
"Do you have personal firewall software running on your computer?"

SecurityFocus identifies as adding to the confusion Microsoft's manufacturing missteps like an unending stream of patches flowing from Redmond, Washington including patches that themselves are buggy, requiring further patches and updates to fix these patches. SecurityFocus recommends Microsoft desperately needs to improve the underlying security of their products and improve the way that its operating systems are updated and patched.

Microsoft will probably install patches and updates automatically, by default, to solve the problem of the millions of people who never run Windows Update. Microsoft recently purchased GeCAD, a small Romanian anti-virus software company, to harness the millions of people who never install or update anti-virus software. Microsoft bundled an extremely simplistic "Internet Connection Firewall" with Windows XP, but it is turned off by default and only blocks incoming traffic. Microsoft is making changes to the way attachments open in the corporate email program Outlook, but Microsoft has no plans to improve free Outlook Express any further.

The National Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC) is the primary national-level hub for operational communications and information pertaining to domestic incident management. Located at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters, the HSOC integrates and provides overall steady state threat monitoring and situational awareness for domestic incident management on a 24/7 basis.

1. In this capacity, the HSOC serves as the Secretary's primary point of coordination for the following activities:
a. maintaining domestic incident management operational situational awareness, including threat monitoring and initial incident information assessment;
b. facilitating homeland security information-sharing and operational coordination with other emergency operations centers at the Federal, State, local, and tribal levels, as well as emergency operations centers managed by nongovernmental entities,
c. disseminating or coordinating the dissemination of homeland security threat warnings, advisory bulletins, and other information pertinent to national incident management;
d. providing general situational awareness and support to and acting upon requests for information generated by the Interagency Incident Management Group discussed in section IV.B. below; and
e. facilitating domestic incident awareness, prevention, deterrence, and response and recovery activities, as well as direction to DHS components.

2. The HSOC will coordinate its activities with the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, the Terrorist Screening Center, and other Federal government mechanisms for terrorism-related threat analysis and warning.

3. To perform these functions, the HSOC will establish and maintain real-time communications links to other Federal emergency operations centers at the national level, as well as appropriate State, regional, and nongovernmental emergency operations centers and incident management officials and relevant elements of the private sector.

4. The HSOC comprises representatives from DHS and other Federal departments and agencies as required to support steady state threat-monitoring requirements, as well as domestic incident management activities (see Annex A).

5. DHS component entity operations centers established to support day-to-day operational activities and incident management responsibilities as defined in existing plans will continue to function in accordance with those plans. DHS component operations centers will establish and maintain direct connectivity, or capability for connectivity, with the HSOC on a 24/7 basis and will keep the HSOC apprised of all operational activities conducted in support of incident management requirements.

6. Nothing in this plan impacts or impedes the ability of other Federal departments and agencies to establish their own emergency operations centers and maintain a direct flow of information to these operations centers from government or private sector representatives at the local incident site.

7. Nothing in this plan impacts or impedes the ability of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to develop and disseminate FBI intelligence bulletins and threat warnings to law enforcement.

1. The Secretary of Homeland Security is the principal Federal official for domestic incident management. Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Secretary is responsible for coordinating Federal operations within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies.

The Secretary shall coordinate the Federal Government's resources utilized in response to or recovery from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies if and when any one of the following four conditions applies:

(1) a Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested the assistance of the Secretary;
(2) the resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been requested by the appropriate State and local authorities;
(3) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to the incident; or
(4) the Secretary has been directed to assume responsibility for managing the domestic incident by the President.

2. To facilitate national-level domestic incident management and coordination of Federal operations and resources when any of the criteria identified above is met or in anticipation thereof, the Secretary may activate a tailorable, task-organized headquarters-level Interagency Incident Management Group (IIMG) comprising senior representatives from 4
Initial National Response Plan DHS components and other Federal departments and agencies and nongovernmental organizations, as required, that is capable of:

a. serving as the focal point for Federal headquarters-level operational coordination of a domestic incident;
b. reviewing and validating threat assessments and making recommendations to the Secretary on actions to take in response to credible threats, including changes in the National Homeland Security Advisory System alert level;
c. synthesizing information and framing issues for the Secretary or other appropriate officials;
d. recommending priorities to the Secretary for the use or allocation of Federal resources in support of domestic incident management;
e. providing general oversight of the application of Federal resources in support of domestic incident management in coordination with existing agency and interagency resource management and private sector entities;
f. providing strategic situational awareness and decision support across the full spectrum of domestic incident management domains, to include awareness, prevention, protection, response, and recovery; and
g. anticipating evolving Federal resource and operational requirements according to the specifics of the situation at hand.

The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security is responsible for interagency policy coordination regarding domestic incidents.

1. The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security is responsible for interagency policy coordination regarding domestic incident management, as directed by the President.

Following an initial assessment by the Secretary of Homeland Security, interagency policy issues framed by the IIMG, particularly those of a time-sensitive or high-level nature, will be considered for resolution by the Deputies and/or Principals Committees of the Homeland Security Council.

The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security will coordinate policy resolution with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs regarding domestic incidents with international implications, including those which may have been perpetrated, in part or whole, by international terrorist organizations or other foreign powers.

2. Nothing in this plan is intended to impact or impede the ability of any Federal department or agency head to take an issue of concern directly to the President, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, or any other member of the President's staff.

A Principal Federal Official (PFO) may be appointed to represent the DHS Secretary at the incident.

1. When an incident meeting the criteria set forth in section IV.B.1. occurs, or in anticipation of an incident meeting this criteria, the Secretary may designate a Federal officer to serve as the PFO to act as his representative locally and oversee and coordinate Federal activities relevant to the incident.

The roles and responsibilities of the PFO include the following:

a. representing the Secretary of Homeland Security as the senior Federal official on scene to enable the Secretary to carry out his role as the principal Federal official for domestic incident management;
b. ensuring overall coordination of Federal domestic incident management activities and resource allocation on scene, ensuring the seamless integration of Federal incident management activities in support of State, local, and tribal requirements;
c. providing strategic guidance to Federal entities and facilitating interagency conflict resolution as necessary to enable timely Federal assistance to State, local, and tribal authorities;
d. serving as a primary, although not exclusive, point for Federal interface with State, local, and tribal government officials, the media, and the private sector for incident management; e. providing real-time incident information, through the support of the Federal incident management structure on scene, as detailed in the Federal Response Plan and other Federal incident management and emergency operations plans, to the Secretary of Homeland Security through the HSOC and the IIMG, as required; and
f. coordinating the overall Federal public communications strategy at the State, local, and tribal levels and clearing Federal interagency communications to the public regarding the incident.

2. Required Federal assets and resources will be requested and deployed consistent with the procedures identified in the Federal Response Plan, U.S. Government Domestic Counterterrorism Concept of Operations Plan, and other related plans. Using the protocols detailed therein, the PFO, as designated by the Secretary, will oversee the coordination of the deployment and application of Federal assets and resources in support of the on-scene incident commander.

The PFO will do this in coordination with other Federal officials identified in existing plans, such as the Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge (SAC) on scene. The FCO, the FBI SAC, and other Federal incident management officials designated in existing plans will maintain their authorities and responsibilities as defined in the Federal Response Plan and other existing plans, statutes, and Presidential directives. Nothing in this document impacts or impedes the ability or the authorities of the FBI SAC or other designated Federal officials to carry out their duties under the law or to coordinate directly with their department or agency chain of command in the execution of these duties.

3. The PFO and supporting staff will be collocated with other Federal entities established to support incident management activities at the local level, including the Federal Joint Operations Center and the Disaster Field Office. Whenever possible, these entities will be collocated in a single facility, called the Joint Field Office (see section IV.E. below).

4. The Secretary of Homeland Security will publish a generic organizational structure and support requirements for the PFO cell in a separate document. Other Federal departments and agencies with representation on scene shall provide their full and prompt cooperation, resources, and support, as appropriate and consistent with applicable authorities, to the PFO cell in the fulfillment of the requirements identified by the Secretary.

5. The Secretary of Homeland Security will inform the Governor(s) of the affected State(s) and will announce the designation of the PFO via a message from the HSOC to other Federal, State, local and tribal emergency operations centers, as well as through an appropriate media event or press release as soon as practicable after incident notification. In certain scenarios, a PFO may be pre-designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security to facilitate domestic incident planning and coordination.

6. If the PFO cannot arrive at the incident site immediately, the Secretary may designate a Federal officer to serve as an initial PFO in an interim capacity until the PFO is in place. The initial PFO/PFO will have all the responsibilities listed above and may or may not be an employee of the Department of Homeland Security.

7. The PFO and a small staff component may deploy with the Domestic Emergency Support Team (DEST) to enhance situational awareness and facilitate their timely arrival on scene.

The PFO and supporting staff will conform to deployment timelines and other guidelines established in DEST procedures, including, but not limited to, those outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding between DHS and DOJ/FBI regarding the DEST program. Nothing in this Initial NRP alters the existing DEST concept of operations or affects the mission of the DEST to support law enforcement operations at the scene of a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat or event.

Federal entities will be integrated into a Joint Field Office (JFO) whenever possible.

1. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal incident management activities, the operations of various Federal entities established at the local level should be collocated in a JFO.
When feasible, the JFO should incorporate existing entities, such as the Joint Operations Center, the Disaster Field Office, and other Federal offices and teams that provide support on scene.
When feasible, the JFO will be collocated with a State, county, or local emergency operations center. State, local, and tribal governments will be encouraged to be integral participants in the JFO to facilitate coordinated resource support to the incident commander(s).

2. The PFO will ensure that adequate connectivity is maintained between the JFO and:
-the HSOC;
-tribal, local, county, State, and regional EOCs;
-nongovernmental EOCs;
-and relevant elements of the private sector.

To the extent feasible, staffing of the JFO will include:
-representatives of State, local, and tribal first responder communities,
-as well as representatives of senior State, local, and tribal government
-and emergency management officials.

3. Detailed procedures governing the interaction and specific membership composition of the JFO will be included as part of the full NRP. The Secretary of Homeland Security will publish interim operating procedures for the JFO.

Requirements

A. Federal Departments and Agencies:1. As required by HSPD-5, and consistent with section I.D. of this plan, provide cooperation, resources, and support to the Secretary of Homeland Security in the implementation of this Initial NRP;
2. Designate representatives to staff the HSOC (see Annex A) and IIMG (see Annex B) at the request of the Secretary of Homeland Security;
3. As required by HSPD-5, make initial revisions to existing incident management and emergency response plans under their purview, including individual agency continuity-of-operations plans, to reflect the structural and procedural guidance contained in this Initial NRP within 60 days of its approval by the Homeland Security Council. (All other aspects of current Federal incident management and emergency response plans shall remain operative, pending publication of the full NRP.); and
4. Report to the HSOC, according to procedures established by the Secretary of Homeland Security:
a. the initiation of a Federal department or agency plan or action to prevent, respond to, or recover from an incident for which a department or agency has responsibility under law or directive under the criteria established in HSPD-5;
b. the submission of requests for assistance to or receipt of a request from another Federal department or agency in the context of domestic incident under the criteria established in HSPD-5; and
c. the receipt of requests for assistance from State, local, or tribal governments; nongovernmental organizations; or the private sector.

B. Secretary of Homeland Security:

1. In coordination with other affected departments and agencies, develop and publish detailed operational procedures for the HSOC, IIMG, and JFO within 60 days of the approval of the Initial NRP;
2. In coordination with other affected departments and agencies, develop and publish a detailed organizational structure, operational procedures, and support requirements for a standard DHS PFO cell within 60 days of the approval of the Initial NRP; and
3. In coordination with other affected departments and agencies, develop and submit to the Homeland Security Council a plan for development and implementation of the full NRP concurrently with the submission of the Initial NRP.

C. State Governments: State governments and emergency management agencies are requested to report to the HSOC, according to procedures established by the Secretary of Homeland Security in coordination with State governments and emergency management agencies:
1. the activation of State emergency operations centers;
2. the announcement of emergency declarations made under State or local authority; and
3. the activation of State mutual-aid agreements or compacts in response to incidents resulting in emergency declarations or requiring Federal assistance. Additionally, State governments and emergency management agencies are requested to coordinate with the HSOC regarding appropriate procedures for establishing connectivity for domestic incident management purposes.

D. Regional Structures: All existing Federal regional structures will continue to execute incident management responsibilities as detailed in current Federal incident management and emergency response plans, in coordination with the PFO, HSOC, and IIMG.

Sunday, October 26, 2003

InfoSpace to Sell Payment Solutions and Focus on Search Directory and Mobile Communications

Internet giant InfoSpace, Inc. uses the warden-like slogan "Names. Numbers. Now. TM" and has powerful Internet properties that include Dogpile.com (www.dogpile.com), WebCrawler.com (www.webcrawler.com), InfoSpace.com (www.infospace.com) and MetaCrawler.com (www.metacrawler.com). Their unique metasearch technology searches the most popular engines and returns only the best results from each, including Google, FAST, Yahoo!, About, Ask Jeeves, FindWhat, LookSmart, and Inktomi.

The Bellevue, Washington company announced October 20th it is tightening its strategic focus to two businesses: InfoSpace Search & Directory and InfoSpace Mobile, and will jetison their InfoSpace Payment Solutions division and the network of 83,000 reseller partners and leading financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo. InfoSpace Payment Solutions lets merchants authorize, settle and manage electronic transactions through the IP-based payment gateway, Authorize.Net. The InfoSpace, Inc. mobile division was beefed up this week with the acquisition of Moviso from Vivendi Universal Net for $25 million in cash, adding mobile content such as ringtones, video, graphics and games.

InfoSpace also is interested in promoting their Dogpile site and the mascot Arfie, everyone's favorite Net Pet, and have initiated a publicity campaign featuring slogans such as "Search Doggie-Style." Greg Notess, an independent search engine expert, verified that Dogpile's metasearch can retrieve 50% or more additional results, and Dogpile is seeking to spread the word.

"We just started a campaign on and around five college campuses," Leslie Grandy, vice president of product management told internetnews.com. "We're looking to leverage the edginess of the brand name." The five schools initially selected for Dogpile advertising and their mascots are University of Washington (Harry the Husky), University of Georgia (Uga the Bulldog, now Hairy Dawg), Arizona State (Owls until 1922, Bulldogs until 1946, now Sparky the Sun Devil), Florida State (Seminole Tribe), and Ohio State University (Brutus Buckeye).

Saturday, October 25, 2003

The Web page or file that you requested is temporarily unavailable is a message that can emerge from a search request for several reasons. It usually appears because the target website is undergoing editing, server maintenance, or request overloads. A message like this may be generated by a web search with filters on, where the target is below the filter threshold. You could get a temporarily unavailable message if your Internet Service Provider is experiencing power drains.

EarthLink has found another way to use the "Sorry - Page Temporarily Unavailable" dead-end. Here is their message:
Sorry...Page temporarily unavailable. The web page or file you requested is temporarily unavailable. It has been so popular this month that it exceeded its free monthly traffic allotment. Access to this Web site will be restored on the first of next month. Please come back then. Thank you for your visit!

Bandwidth quotas are their sweet way of managing capacity with IP address sharing. All EarthLink Members receive at least 10MB free webspace. Each member's free webspace is allocated at least 1GB of traffic per month. If the site exceeds their monthly allotment of traffic, the site becomes unavailable until the next month. A site that exceeds the maximum allowed webspace size also becomes unavailable. Unavailability includes but may not be limited to: the inability to access the site publicly or to publish to or modify the site's contents via certain Web creation tools.

Traffic is calculated with a formula multiplying the number of hits that your site receives by the size of your files.
Hits are defined as active clicking of any link on your page. Page is defined as a document, commonly an HTML file.
Often a site will get 90% of its hits to HTML pages, but 90% of bandwidth from image, movie, or music files. Any free Web site exceeding the traffic limits will be billed for excess traffic, they warn in their policies, but that's not likely if they're putting up site unavailable messages.

About.com Inc. Microstudy Subject: CalVal News Headlines

About Search, hosted by Global Servers and part of About Network from About.com, Inc., uses the marketing slogan "What You Need to Know". The About Network maintains their directory of recommendations edited by real people. They are placing DoubleClick ads above the result and advise at the very end that "some of the 'On the Web' results powered by Inktomi."

This is the microstudy of one listing for CalVal News, my headline-grabbing newspaper powered by Moreover's large free database. It's a quick way to see hundreds of international headlines from a variety of sources.

On the About Network: Avalon Hill's Battlecry - Board Games - All about Avalon Hill's Battlecry.
On the Web: CalVal News Displaying results 1 to 10 of 60

2.CalVal Local NewsDaily online newspaper features hundreds of headlines with links to the original story. Teletype style breaking news stories from local and international sources, sports coverage, and national weather reports.
URL: http://www.geocities.com/phemy@prodigy.net/page2.html

3. About Search - Find it now! Search the power of About's network of topics
URL: http://headlines.about.com/news/1999/12/27/up/0000-0804-us-y2k-pentagon.htm ...
...leading to a Verisign site with a Network Solutions "under Construction" banner.

*(Next Entry)About Search - Find it now!(leads to Url below)
Daily online newspaper features hundreds of headlines with links to the original story. Teletype-style breaking news stories from local and international sources, sports coverage, and national weather reports.
URL: http://www.geocities.com/phemy@prodigy.net/page2.html

The only other positive hit is result #3 on Meta Crawler and #2 Google: File Format: Microsoft Word 2000 - View as HTML
... 1.2 Announcements Jeanne Hughes: Dave Schoeneman has been appointed interim-Superintendent at a local school district; By-Laws allow him to technically remain ...

Metasearch results for ""nike mug"" (1 - 20 of 32)
" I received a special edition Nike mug."
"...he also bid heavily for a Nike Mug,"
" My goal is to win a Nike mug..."
"The Big Sexys defeated Nike Mug..."

Without quotes, the #1 Google result of 36,200 is epinions.com"Epinions has the best comparison shopping information on Nike Nike Thermal Mug". Above the fold are two paid ads, the ubiquitous ebay and 24hourmall.com.

With quotation marks added, "nike mug" returns 1-9 of about 11. Amazing?
The initial ad is for $0.59 Mugdeal and there are five sidebar ads, one of these being ebay.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-remote control sex

Unfiltered Metasearch results for "remote control sex" (1 - 20 of 86)
#1 result--Weemote - Children's Remote - Children and Sex - Parental Control
#2 result http://www.sheloveshertoys.com/remote/remote.html
Filtered Metasearch results for "remote control sex" (1 - 20 of 58)
1. Weemote - Children's Remote - Children and Sex - Parental Control
2. ...to promote radio controlled modeling to those interested.
Most of the rest are sources of sex toys...I like them...but these are suppose to be the filtered responses.

444,000 Google results for this query returned in 0.17 seconds; 444,000 matches with remote + control + sex or any combination of these words in Google's indexed websites.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-"lois ann kroll"

Metasearch results for ""lois ann kroll"" (1 - 11 of 11)
" ... Arabian Costumes, by Lois Ann Kroll (available from the International ArabianHorse Association) shows how the native costumes and tack are made. ...
Google returned nine results and all were about the same person. Good job.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-mitocondrial dna and eve

Properly spelled, 8,370 pages use this combination of words, with a prominent example here:
Tracing mother Eve using mitochondrial DNA
... Mother Eve in dispute with ape-man. ... the origins of present-day humans from various
molecules to be found in the cell, one of which, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is ...
www.biblicalcreation.org.uk/origins_archaeology/ bcs023.html - 10k - Cached - Similar pages
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-"2004 world's fair"

Google Search Results 1 - 10 of about 15.
... The 1904 World's Fair Society, established in 1986, published the monthly World's
Fair Bulletin and proposed staging a 2004 World's Fair in St. Louis....
...... The next World's Fair will be Aichi 2005 in Seto, Japan...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-food

Metasearch results for "food" (1 - 20 of 101)
The #1 result is the same as the sidebar banner, but it's a good offer--
The Great Taste of Schwan's MealsDiscover the taste of Schwan's with an initial $30 purchase and get a free dinner brought right to your front door. Click here to learn more about the value and quality of Schwan's.

The MeatCrawler #3 result:
Canned Food - The Easy Way to Eat RightLooking for a new food recipe? The Canned Food Alliance recipe database contains hundreds of recipes complete with preparation time, cook time and nutritional information.

The top five results are for the Food Network, FDA, UN Food and Ag Org, Epicurious and the USDA FNIC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-half life cd key

Next I searched the web though Google for cable. Results 1 - 10 of about 29,500,000.
Result #1= CNN
Result #2= Comcast
Result#7= Porter-Cable power tools
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*-home audioMetasearch results for "home audio" (1 - 20 of 112)
The top result returned is for the HP Media Center at hpshopping.com.
The next most-relevant response for home and audio is "Wurlitzer Jukeboxes for Sale"
Gateway Computers is the third company on the list.

Results 1 - 10 of about 40,300,000
Top ads from Bose and Price Grabber.
Eight sidebar ads including ebay.
Top result is the Havi.org:
...Home Audio / Video Interoperability (HAVi) is a standard core specification for
networking digital AV appliances that will allow digital consumer home ...

Xanga Personals Has No Relation To Xanga

The personals are completely separate from xanga – run by a different company with its own database.
The xanga website database has absolutely no relation to the personals database, hence you have the name PHEMY for your xanga site, but this other person has had a personals profile called phemy for a year or so.

M A T T C O N N O R S

Matt--
thanks for the speedy reply to some of my questions.
I don't like the answer, though. You are telling me Xanga can have two people named Phemy?
There is one in the personals--
I went to Xanga (personals) and drew up this one entry:
Xanga Personals xanga - join - sign in
Phemy
"irreverence is next to godliness"
Active within 24 hours
1536 online now
Terms of Service I went to Xanga main page and pulled up one Phemy, me.

Netcraft Reports Baltimore.com Into Second Year Without Rebooting

Netcraft.com geeks seek to answer the eternal nerd question, "What's that site running?" Their Wednesday October 22nd story relates that, www.baltimore.com, one of Alexa's busiest 50,000 sites, has been running Windows 2000 for two years now without a reboot. This amazing act deserves in-depth marveling from several perspectives.

Thank you for writing to me regarding the Bush
Administration's requests for additional funding for post-war Iraq
and Afghanistan. I appreciate hearing from you.

While U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan and President Bush declared an end to major combat
operations in Iraq in May, conditions in parts of Iraq and
Afghanistan continue to be unstable and long-term costs related to
the conflict and reconstruction remain fluid.

After months of uncertainty regarding the true cost of our
military operations, I believe the time has come for this
Administration to provide detailed plans to Congress and the
American people regarding the myriad of issues we still face in Iraq
and Afghanistan, especially if President Bush wants Congress to
approve an additional $87 billion to fund reconstruction efforts and
military operations.

As a result I have introduced legislation requiring the White
House to submit a detailed report to Congress on the situation in
Iraq within 60 days. Specifically, the legislation calls on the
President to explain the current economic, political, and military
situation in Iraq, including a detailed plan for providing security in
Iraq, restoring basic services and establishing Iraqi self government.

We have assumed an enormous responsibility in Iraq and
Afghanistan and we must stay the course, but we need to hear from
the Administration on how it intends to stay that course and where
that course will lead us.

Please know that I will keep your comments in mind when
the Senate considers the Presidents request. Again, thank you for
writing me regarding this important issue. If you have any
additional comments or questions please contact my office at (202)
224-3841.

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

I had written her a few days before specifically to question the idiotic proposal to make reconstruction aid loans.
Let's respond, ok?

DiFi---Diagnosis: Momism. Don't be a war hawk. Stop foreign intervention! Lay down our arms, pull out, apologize, give them all the oilfields and new industries and machinery present at this moment and just go. It's gonna take decades for them to rebuild--ask Japan or Britain or France.

I have always admired you and want to like you, but I can't believe the warmongering and I can't abide the silent witness. You and other Democratic representatives have to raise your collective voice or be accused of facilitating this entire bogus administration's war/terrorism/anti-civil liberty agenda.

Every second longer our troops are there, we are prolonging the pain and humiliation of destruction of their whole lives,for nothing. The troops are morally corrupted and brutalized in ways that no one can ever tell, for nothing. The citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq have been disrespected, dispersed, interfered with and radicalized against Americans, for nothing. No WMD. Nothing.
Thanks for writing me. --Mary

Xanga Sends Only a One-Line Excuse For Two Members With Same Name

Today HELP-BIN wrote:Phemy is someone's else's profile name, a Time Out New York member.

M A T T C O N N O R S
customer service supervisor

Hey Matt--
I wonder if you are telling me it is unresolvable? I was initially prompted to write because Xanga returned an error message, but now I am curious about how there can be two Phemy's at Xanga. I wonder if you could tell me how long the other person has been using that name at Xanga? Do they have a website with it? Why did it pull up on websearch from inside Xanga personals, but there were different results at Xanga's main door? Do they plan to meld the two lists or separate the personals business? Why can't the personal ad be on your page?
Thanks for your consideration. Mary--phemy@prodigy.net

Thursday, October 23, 2003

Blogdex Sleeps While Instapundit Climbs to Number Seven on Technorati Pop Charts

Blogdex is the MIT Weblog Diffusion Index that scans posts made by webloggers as a proxy to the things they are talking about. *Spoiled Metaphor Alert* Here is how they describe the system: "Webloggers typically contextualize their writing with hypertext links which act as markers for the subjects they are discussing. These markers are like tags placed on wild animals, allowing Blogdex to track a piece of conversation as it moves from weblog to weblog."

That wild animal reference unsettles me, so let's think of the hot hyperlink as the hot potatoe. The chef post bakes one up and sets it out for all to take. It tends to go down the line from circle to circle and is sampled and copied and investigated and parodied...tater-tots and mash with chives. It still the same potatoe and now feeds more, with each link back (if honorable, unless permission is threatening or forbidden) expanding the flavor and spice.

Blogdex crawls all weblogs in its database whenever (*?) updated and collects a subset of new posts since the last Blogdex update. The system then looks across all weblogs (**or subset only?) and generates a list of fast spreading ideas with annotations for where the link was found and when it was indexed.

The Blogdex weblog aggregator seems to be on hiatus or in development, for there is a lag in their activity compared to hyper-popular Technorati. Blogdex has a news page but it is stale, going back to August, but...a clue. The last entry ominously points to a new application being launched-- trackback. No response to my various means of contacting them ala net.

Number 15. The Register : 2052 blogs, 3452 links is a breakout internet technology weblog superstar with witty headlines, cogent comments, and direct links. It's often the only news you need if all you need to know is on the net.

Technorats, the million-plus Technorati who signed up already, are enjoying it immensely. I was curious about the hot blogs on Technorati, but I guess that feature is in development. There is a simple sorry message there right now, but a couple days ago these results came up for the eight hottest topics...all to variations of the same story.

Most humbling moment About 12 years ago, I walked into a bar in Greenwich Village to meet up with my boyfriend and my sister and heard a popping noise and looked down and saw my garter belt and stockings lying on the floor near my feet (the clasp on the belt had broken)!

Favorite on-screen sex sceneThe sensuality of the food and ice cube scenes in 9 1/2 Weeks. The thrill is found in not knowing what you are going to taste or feel next.

Celebrity I resemble mostI have been told Jodie Foster and Meryl Streep.

Best (or worst) lie I've ever told-You haven't changed a bit!

If I could be anywhere at the moment...I would have to say Italy because I have never been and am dying to go there.

Song or album that puts me in the moodSomething jazzy and low key or someone like Enya. Anything more intense tends to distract me too much.

Fill in the blanks:Directness is sexy; Honesty is sexier
In my bedroom, you'll find:
Purple lavander candles, a restored photograph of my great grandmother, and two alarm clocks.

WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW ME I have been told that I am attractive (blonde), sexy, romantic, creative and sweet. I also am well-educated and have a variety of interests (primarily in the arts) and have a good, albeit slightly dry and irreverent, sense of humor. I love to entertain and to cook.

MORE ABOUT WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR I am seeking either a single Israeli (non-religious) or European man between the ages of 35-55 for a monogomous relationship, although I would consider compelling offers from American men. Divorced men with kids are OK. I am seeking a well-educated and honest man who is not afraid to romance a woman and who desires an intimate, committed relationship.

Googlism A Great Place to Vanity Surf if You Care What Google Thinks of You

Googlism is a Google hack from the Australian company Domain Active that samples the Google results on your query. This fun tool culls the content of the collective results to pull out key phrases that describe what people are saying or doing about the search subject. Their suggested searches include Tuesday, Joe, poker, kitchen, and Bill Gates. The results read like poetry, these snipets of reports and tributes and criticisms, a stream of truth and speculation mixing what's happened and what may never be. I made a poem by punctuating my results:

El Goog Lism Goog Le

google is that? google is three,
google is a user's best friend;

google is tops for work-time searches,
google is still spidering and caching my old server,
google is goood, google is urged to go public.

google is the real winner in its own;
google is the world's favorite search engine!
google is your friend,google is the most popular search,
google is faaasst--google is one of the best search.

google is gong bezerk: google is out of beta...
google is featuring the google.
google is $deity, google is so cool
google is here, google is the best.

google is dancing, google is lief,
google is watching you.
google is at it again.

google is first time our top referer,
google is microsoft ?
google is #1 search, google is a powerful weapon indeed.

google is having a programming contest,
google is the greatest? at news.
google is 'feeling lucky' the googleplex,
google is so popular, google is decentralizing,
google is that? om malik.

google is able to process search queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines.
google is proud of their advantage.
google is three times bigger than the experts think.

google is a user's best friend by john mccormick special to gcn:
every web user should know how to exploit the features of the powerful google.
google is your family.

google is not an anomaly,
google is tops for work-time searches by abigail waraker.
google is my other memory.
google is still spidering and caching my old server 35 dayes and still counting.

google is goood- positive things about google.
google is a harsh mistress.

google is in the black by kieren mccarthy, posted;
google is urged to go public, google is urged to go public, google is urged to go public;
google is now indexing this list.

google is the real winner in its own contest-
by paul festa, special to zdnet news, may 31.
google is the world's favorite search engine
by olaf japtner.

google is more than an academic debate on copyright law;
google is not going to do anything as a result of it.
google is a dot, google is replacing bookmarks,
google is the most popular search engine.

google is unique
among search engines in that
while it almost always shows you pages
that have the exact keywords you are looking for

google is faaasst...just tried google,
google is one of the best search engines by tootough2be.
google is one of the best search engines.
i use google all the time to find everything.

google is gong bezerk;
it seems forums are flooded
with complaints about google's new search algorithms;
google is gong bezerk.

post a comment-
name:
google is still choosing to take advantage of the safe harbor provision of the digital millennium copyright act.

google is featuring the google posted may 20;
google is a target for any optimization campaign
simply because it has managed to obtain the most
attention from users on search.

google is $deity.
i finagled work into buying me a wireless.
google is the best.

google is an internet search engine, google is dancing,
expect the full update to appear within the next day or so.
google is the most popular search engine on the web according to onestat.
google is the only search engine.

google is a privately held company and does not divulge financial information.
google is oft, google is just the juice.
google is watching you.
ever wondered how many pages google is keeping track of for your domain?

submitting this form.
google is the point--google is in fact a company.
google is probably archiving all of your images.
google is a part of my brain.
google is a careless custodian of private information.

google is best, google is already mostly rest-friendly;
google is increasing its infrastructure as fast as it can.
google is a powerful.
google is indirectly supporting their anti-...google is smart.

google is the real winner in its own contest.
google is the best search engine, google is a sensitive thing.
google is the only dotcom to achieve the rare distinction of zero-percent employee turnover.

google is your friend,
i knew when i wrote this;
google is surprisingly light.
google is the greatest?
get the latest news
and information
at news.

google is now the search engine of choice
for most of the web,
and it handles over 150 million queries a day;
google is not a search company.
google is that?
google is decentralizing.

google is 'feeling lucky';
google is making money off blogger already.
google is not god.
google is the net dominator;
google is a user's best friend.

google is three.
google is sending c&d letters
about saying "to google" google is not a search.
google is goood;
google is a harsh mistress.

google is tops for work-time searches.
google is god -don't piss her off!
google is as google does.

google is evil;
google is the most important search--google is niet hip meer.
google is our friend, google is urged to go public.
google is the best tech.

google is self.
google is sued for penalizing/google is penalizing for linking to bad neighbours...
google is scary.
google is here.

google is best. google is building the memex.
google is replacing bookmarks.
google is great.

google is being used as a net.
hacker tool / the hacks are made...
google is happiness-- google is vergevingsgezind.
google is dancing her feet off.

google is net
hacker tool du jour.
google is now indexing this list.
google is hiring engineers in ny-google is bigger than...
google is stalking me.

google is my google is good.
google is just the juice;
google is known best for its search capabilities.
google is not your friend.

google is proud of their advantage.
google is a trademark of google technology, inc.
google is so popular google is 'feeling lucky'
the googleplex--google
is a privately google is making money off.

google is able to process search queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines.
google is my virtual garage; google is hiring,
google is the net dominator.
the world's biggest search engine is in danger of consuming the net.

google is a user's best friend by john mccormick,
special to gcn. every web user should know
how to exploit the features of the powerful google.
google is three times bigger than the experts think.

google is sending c&d--google is not a search engine.
google is a marvel of web brilliance.
google is goood positive things about google.

google is rewarding our informational sites
(quote nicely, thank you.)
google is not an anomaly--
google is arguing that its search results are in essence opinions of a website.

google is km? google is tops for work-time
searches by abigail waraker...
google is not an application service provider.
google is an 11. google is examining its system;
google is known and loved for its impressive web search tool.
google is god.

google is no bargain if google; google is changing what we can find out about one another.
google is not a search company kottke.
google is becoming increasingly embroiled
in international political disputes over copyright and censorship.
google is still choosing to take advantage of the safe harbor provision of the digital millennium copyright act.

google is in some way able to control
if a server with the new index or a server with an old index...
google is facing rifts between what's good for users
and what's good for google.

google is best. google is awesome.
google is a harsh mistress »
google is the most important search engine of all.

google is now in advertising; google is making my line of work a bit too easy in some respects.
google is sued for penalizing
added on google is penalizing
for linking to bad neighbours
added on.

google is building the memex. google is that?
google is three.
google is a user's best friend.
google is tops for work
time searches google is still spidering and
google is saving the web.

google is my other memory.
google is nice but google is watching you.
het merkenrecht is duidelijk.
google is great by john lenihan.
google is more than an academic debate.

on copyright law google is dancing;
google is an internet search engine.
google is bigger than alltheweb.
google is 'feeling lucky'--google is that?
google is decentralizing.
google is god.

don't piss her off...google is my passport.
google is the net.
google is back in china, but don't google is not the next microsoft.

google is the king of searching.
google is self--google is not god.
google is skynet; google is three;
google is not a search.

google is goood. google is your friend.
google is scary.
google is just freaking me out!

google is ruining google,
google is te machtig', google is jarig,
google is broken?
google is making money off blogger.
google is a harsh mistress.

google is terrible. google is a bad unix shell.
google is fun...google is not the best search.
google is building the memex.
google is ignoring my forum.
google is search engine that could.

google is listening. google is good. google is here.
google is the most important search--google is watching and counting.
google is god, reprised.

google is the best tech, google is a calculator.
google is urged to go public.
google is known best for its search capabilities;
google is not your friend.

google is google god?
google is to create
a search tool specifically for weblogs.
google is being "gamed".

google is not affiliated
with the financial information
providers that are used.
google is able to process search
queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines.

google is a noun.
google is that? om malik
google is so popular.
google is a marvel of web brilliance.
google is god.

google is the net,
dominator the world's biggest search
engine is in danger of consuming the net.
google is back
in china, but don't try asking...
any difficult questions.
john gittings in shanghai-
saturday, september 14.